"Where we are, they still have electricity. They never lost electricity," he said of their staging area around Egg Harbor, N.J.

It apparently was the difference of being on the shoreline versus inland, Houston said.

The teams worked in shelters Monday night, tending to the medical needs of those who left their homes for safety. The eye of the hurricane passed over the area about 8:30 p.m. Monday. Then teams had to endure the back half of the storm.

Before the sun rose Tuesday, team members were in briefings and then headed out around 7:30 a.m.

"The EMS strike teams are attached to the water rescue teams. They're out picking people off the roofs and out of high water," he said.

There's no available space at the hospitals, so the EMS teams treat the rescued people and transport them to medical shelters.

"We've started to get into the recovery mode," Houston said, noting that some bodies have been recovered in the area where the teams have been dispatched. "None of my group has seen them. That's coming from the water rescue team."

While the storm has passed, there is still much to do before areas hit hard by Hurricane Sandy return to a sense of normalcy. But the Indiana Homeland Security EMS strike teams and 25 ambulances from Districts 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 finish their last shift around 6 p.m. today. They'll rest overnight, then head home about 6 a.m. Thursday, arriving about 10 p.m., Houston said. A similar EMS team from Pennsylvania was expected to arrive Tuesday.

"Folks are doing great. Morale is great," he said . "This is what they came out here to do. They're dog tired, but they've got grins from ear to ear."